Ruhrnachrichten - December 17, 1996

by Uwe Becker

translation by Astrid Nolde-Gallasch



Family celebration with Chris de Burgh


An evening full of surprises in Dortmund


It was rather unusual what happened in the Westfalenhalle of Dortmund 
on Sunday night. The organizer announced "sold out", as always when 
Chris de Burgh comes. But apart from that it was an evening of 
surprises. 

For example the surprise that the small man did the first one and a 
half hours of this appearance all alone. Sometimes at the piano, then 
with the guitar in his hands, he interpreted hit songs like "Sailing 
away", "The Traveller" and many more that brought him millions of 
sales of his albums. And again you could ask yourself why the hell 
this small man has the reputation of being shy and reserved. A real 
entertainer presented himself to the audience who knew how to amuse 
with anecdotes as well as with his songs. However and by all 
enthusiasm: The solo-appearance was in the end too long, maximum one 
hour should have been enough - and the powerful musical background of 
a large band was however missed a little.

But therefor it was sort of a family celebration, which was 
celebrated this evening. No barriers in front of the stage prevented 
the fans from getting close contact to the star, lips included. Heidi 
from Moenchen-Gladbach was even allowed to sing a song together with 
Chris in front of the stage. Karaoke time in Hall 1.

In the second half an orchestra came on stage. It became classical, 
violins were heard with the usual electric guitars. The drums 
provided the musical background of evergreens like "Lady in Red" or 
"Missing You". 

It was a contemplative evening for the visitors, somehow appropriate 
for the season. The Florian Singers from Dortmund rounded the thing 
off with sensitive choir singing. Certainly nobody went home with the 
feeling that anything was missing. The experiment, which was also 
pressed on CD, succeeded. The next time it would be nice to see Chris 
de Burgh with full power again - even when once he had his 
breakthrough in Dortmund with a solo appearance.